After waiting in line for 1 1/4 hour with all the other early birds. One of the officials told me that it would be like this through Friday (the last day of early voting). Stood in line behind a woman who goes to my parish and who cheerily urged me to vote for a specific candidate. Soldiers (men and women) in flight suits and camouflage are a common sight here and so they were in line. Now that I think about it, I hardly ever see someone in the standard dress uniform.

Our county is famous for its conservatism so I imagine that the majority in line with me were McCain voters. How the rest of the state goes is the question.

Even though I'm up to my eyeballs, I couldn't skip voting, especially when I'm living in one of the infamous "battleground" states. You never felt such urgency in Washington state. You always knew who would win.

And despite my work haze, I couldn't help but be moved by the sight of all the careful organization and clerks working so hard to make sure that I had my chance to make my mark. And at the sight of several hundred people lined up on a Thursday morning to exercise their civic right. It was a little "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" moment.

For all the relentless craziness of the preceding months, I was moved, proud, and honored to be standing in that line.